2002 was the first season of the
Russian Premier League
The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...
. While the structure of the competition did not change, the top level clubs gained independence from the Professional Football League.
Spartak's six-year dominance in the league was broken by Lokomotiv.
Teams
As in the previous season, 16 teams are playing in the 2002 season, with the name of the league changing from the 'Top Division' to the 'Premier League'. After the
2001 season,
Fakel Voronezh
FC Fakel Voronezh () is a Russian professional football club based in Voronezh. Founded in 1947, the club has played in the Soviet Top League and the Russian Premier League. The club will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season ...
and
Chernomorets Novorossiysk were relegated to the
2002 Russian First Division. They were replaced by
Uralan Elista and
Shinnik Yaroslavl, the winners and runners up of the
2001 Russian First Division.
Venues
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Standings
Championship play-off
Results
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
Awards
On December 10
Russian Football Union
The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...
named its list of 33 top players:
;Goalkeepers
#
Sergei Ovchinnikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Ruslan Nigmatullin
Ruslan Karimovich Nigmatullin ( rus, Русла́н Кари́мович Нигмату́ллин, p=rʊˈslan kɐˈrʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪɡmɐˈtulʲɪn, ; born 7 October 1974 in Kazan, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union) i ...
(CSKA Moscow)
#
Valeri Chizhov (Saturn)
;Sweeper
#
Sergei Ignashevich
Sergei Nikolayevich Ignashevich
( rus, links=no, Сергей Николаевич Игнашевич, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ɪɡnɐˈʂɛvʲɪtɕ; born 14 July 1979) is a Russian professional football coach and a former p ...
(Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Sargis Hovsepyan
Sargis Hovsepyan (; born on 2 November 1972) is an Armenian professional football coach and a former player who played as a right-back. Hovsepyan was the long-time captain of the Armenia national team. He participated in 133 international match ...
(Zenit)
#
Bohdan Shershun (CSKA Moscow)
;Right backs
#
Vadim Evseev
Vadim Valentinovich Yevseyev ( rus, Вади́м Валенти́нович Евсе́ев, p=vɐˈdʲim vəlʲɪnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ jɪfˈsʲe(j)ɪf; born 8 January 1976) is a Russian association football, football coach and a former player. H ...
(Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Dmytro Parfenov
Dmytro Volodymyrovych Parfyonov (; born 11 September 1974) is a Ukrainian football manager and a former defender.
Playing career
Parfyonov is best known as a player of Chornomorets Odesa and Spartak Moscow. He spent seven years playing for ...
(Spartak Moscow)
#
Dmitri Sennikov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
;Stopper
#
Gennadiy Nizhegorodov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Oleg Pashinin (Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Omari Tetradze
Omari Mikhaylovich Tetradze (, ka, ომარ თეთრაძე, ; born 13 October 1969 as Omari Mikhaylovich Osipov) is a Georgian-Russian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Russian club Ufa. During hi ...
(Alania)
;Left backs
#
Jacob Lekgetho (Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Ibra Kébé
Ali Ibrahim Kébé Baye (born 24 December 1978), commonly known as Ibra Kébé, is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Career
In 2002, Kébé signed for Spartak Moscow and made his Champions Leagu ...
(Spartak Moscow)
#
Denis Yevsikov (CSKA Moscow)
;Defensive midfielders
#
Elvir Rahimić
Elvir Rahimić (born 4 April 1976) is a Bosnian football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Bosnian Premier League club Željezničar.
Rahimić spent the majority of his career playing for Russian Premier League ...
(CSKA Moscow)
#
Yevgeni Aldonin (Rotor)
#
Igor Semshov
Igor Petrovich Semshov (; born 6 April 1978) is a Russian professional football coach and a former player.
Career
Semshov graduated from the CSKA academy in 1996, but was unable to hold a starting place and left for Torpedo Moscow in 1998 a ...
(Torpedo Moscow)
;Right wingers
#
Rolan Gusev (CSKA Moscow)
#
Andrei Arshavin
Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin (, ; born 29 May 1981) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger or midfielder. Since 2019, Arshavin has held administrative posts at Zenit. In 2022 he became De ...
(Zenit)
#
Ognjen Koroman
Ognjen Koroman (, ; born 19 September 1978) is a Serbian Manager (association football), football manager and current professional football player, player for FK Ježevica in Serbian lower league Zona Drina.
As a player, he represented Serbia an ...
(Dynamo Moscow)
;Central midfielders
#
Dmitri Loskov
Dmitri Vyacheslavovich Loskov (; born 12 February 1974) is a Russian football coach and a former player. He works as an analyst with Lokomotiv Moscow.
A former midfielder, he was often considered Russia's best playmaker in the late 1990s and ea ...
(Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Vladimir Maminov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Maminov (; born 4 September 1974) is a Russian-born football manager and a former player who represented Uzbekistan internationally.
Career
He played all his career for Russian Premier League club FC Lokomotiv Moscow as ...
(Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Yegor Titov
Yegor Ilyich Titov (; born 29 May 1976) is a Russian Association football, football coach and former player who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He was known for his Playmaker, playmaking abilities, vision, ba ...
(Spartak Moscow)
;Left wingers
#
Andrei Karyaka
Andrei Konstantinovich Karyaka (; born 1 April 1978) is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Early career
Growing up in Dnipropetrovsk in the 1980s, Karyaka was deeply influenced and inspired by ...
(Krylia Sovetov)
#
Andrei Solomatin (CSKA Moscow)
#
Igor Yanovsky
Igor Sergeyevich Yanovsky (; born 3 August 1974) is a Russian retired association football player.
He played for a few clubs, including Alania Vladikavkaz, Paris Saint-Germain (France), CSKA Moscow, and LB Châteauroux (France).
He played fo ...
(CSKA Moscow)
;Right forwards
#
Sergei Semak
Sergei Bogdanovich Semak ( ; born 27 February 1976) is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who manages Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Early life
Semak was born in the village of Sychanske, ...
(CSKA Moscow)
#
James Obiorah
James Chibuzor Obiorah (born 24 August 1978) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a forward.
He is best known for his time in Russia as a Lokomotiv Moscow player, with whom he won the Russian Premier League in 2002 and 2004, on top o ...
(Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Dmitri Kirichenko
Dmitri Sergeyevich Kirichenko (; born 17 January 1977) is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as a striker. He is the manager of Tekstilshchik Ivanovo.
As of 10 March 2014, he is the 3rd all-time top scorer in the Russian ...
(CSKA Moscow)
;Left forwards
#
Aleksandr Kerzhakov
Aleksandr Anatolyevich Kerzhakov ( ; born 27 November 1982) is a Russian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker.
He used ...
(Zenit)
#
Ruslan Pimenov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
#
Denis Popov (CSKA Moscow)
Medal squads
See also
2002 in Russian football
2002 in Russian football was the first season of the Russian Premier League, Premier League, which was won by FC Lokomotiv Moscow (this was their first ever national title). The national team participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
National team ...
References
External links
RSSSF
{{2002–03 in European football (UEFA)
2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
1
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...